If you live in Florida, you have probably experienced some damage to your home due to hurricanes, especially water damage. Mold also likes to start growing in homes that have been water damaged after hurricanes and other storms, especially since Florida is characterized by warm and moist weather. Mold can start to grow in these homes after about 48 hours, so it’s important to get any standing water in the home removed and the home dried out as soon as possible.
A large amount of all the buildings in Florida have to deal with some kind of water or mold damage and a lot of the time this is due to the frequent hurricanes that hit the state almost every single year. The electricity goes down and people are not able to use their air conditioners to help air out and dry the home. Air conditioners can also help to remove humidity by keeping the house at a certain temperature.
If you want to have a healthy and safe indoor environment to live in, you need to make sure your air conditioner is properly serviced as often as is necessary. If it is an old system and has a lot of problems, it is probably best to just replace it instead of doing work on it repeatedly.
Sometimes indoor air quality tests need to be done and not just in Florida. Mold testing should be done and while it’s become a multi-million dollar business industry, it is a necessary one. Mold has been proved to be very harmful to human (and animal) health. When you choose a company to do mold testing or remediation keep it in mind not to choose the same company to do both for you. If a company does both mold testing and removal, it is in their best interest for them to find mold on your property, so even if they say there is mold there, it might not be.
Make sure they have the latest technology in mold testing such as infrared thermal cameras, mold spore counters, air moisture meters, and etcetera. The company should also have a microbiologist in house and certified mold inspectors.
They should inspect the air conditioner, the exterior, plumbing, and they should perform moisture tests around the whole house.
You should do these things even if you do not live in Florida, but a large part of the state of Florida is at risk for water and mold damage because of the moisture and humidity that can exist there.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Connecticut water damage restoration and other states such as
New Jersey Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Mold Testing Kits
If you become concerned that mold exists on your property, the first thing that you should do is buy a mold testing kit. These test kits that you can use on your own are used to determine if mold does in fact exist in your home and to identify what kind of mold you are dealing with and if it is dangerous to you. These kits do not tell you just how much mold is growing in your home and will not tell you everything that a professional mold inspector can.
Mold testing kits include either a stick or a Petri dish that has something for the mold to attach to and grow in. The mold must grow on this item so the lab can determine what kind of mold you are dealing with.
The benefits of home mold testing kits are fairly decent. They are inexpensive for the most part and it does not typically take long for the results to come back from the lab.
Mold tests can be used in order to sample the mold in your home that you can see visually growing on the walls or on the floor and you can find out whether this mold is dangerous to your health or not. All molds are bad for the internal structure of your home, but not all of it will be harmful to your health. Either way it is a good idea to have it removed.
You can also use these tests to sample the air in your home. The air you are breathing may or may not be healthy due to a hidden mold problem. Testing the air being put out by your air conditioner is a good way to find out if there is mold where you live if you cannot find a visible infection.
These Petri dishes can also be placed around your home and if there are mold spores in the air, they will settle onto the dishes and begin to grow.
Unfortunately, you have to follow the instructions included with the tests or they will not be of any use to you. They simply will not return accurate results.
Something else that is unfortunate is the fact that the tests will not just pick up one kind of mold in your home; if there is more than one kind of mold growing in your home, it will pick them all up and molds do not tend to grow at the same speeds. Aspergillus molds, for example, tend to grow faster than Stachybotrys chartarum.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Houston Fire Damage Water Restoration Contractor companies and
Los Angeles Water Damage and Restoration Services.
Mold testing kits include either a stick or a Petri dish that has something for the mold to attach to and grow in. The mold must grow on this item so the lab can determine what kind of mold you are dealing with.
The benefits of home mold testing kits are fairly decent. They are inexpensive for the most part and it does not typically take long for the results to come back from the lab.
Mold tests can be used in order to sample the mold in your home that you can see visually growing on the walls or on the floor and you can find out whether this mold is dangerous to your health or not. All molds are bad for the internal structure of your home, but not all of it will be harmful to your health. Either way it is a good idea to have it removed.
You can also use these tests to sample the air in your home. The air you are breathing may or may not be healthy due to a hidden mold problem. Testing the air being put out by your air conditioner is a good way to find out if there is mold where you live if you cannot find a visible infection.
These Petri dishes can also be placed around your home and if there are mold spores in the air, they will settle onto the dishes and begin to grow.
Unfortunately, you have to follow the instructions included with the tests or they will not be of any use to you. They simply will not return accurate results.
Something else that is unfortunate is the fact that the tests will not just pick up one kind of mold in your home; if there is more than one kind of mold growing in your home, it will pick them all up and molds do not tend to grow at the same speeds. Aspergillus molds, for example, tend to grow faster than Stachybotrys chartarum.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Houston Fire Damage Water Restoration Contractor companies and
Los Angeles Water Damage and Restoration Services.
Mold Precautions for the Work Area
A thorn in the side of any and every workplace is mold. Mold is a very dangerous form of fungus that can get into our lungs and cause all kinds of nasty ailments such as asthma, colds, fatigue, bleeding in the lungs, rashes, uncontrollable coughing, and even chronic dandruff. Employers, as well as employees should take precautions to make sure that mold has not infected their work environment. It is also important to make sure that employers and employees immediately report if they experience any of the aforementioned symptoms. If so, professional help may need to be called in to clean out the mold and prevent further infestation.
If a mold inspector is called in and he or she does find mold, it is important that you inform your employees of the mold, and that the problem is indeed being taken care of. It is also important that you inform them of the measures that will be taken during the removal of the unwanted guest. The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) strongly recommends that you do this for the safety of the employees. The important thing to tell the employees is when the remediation will begin and for how long, so that they know if they will have to make arrangements for the current situation. And if any employees begin to exhibit any health complications or symptoms brought on by exposure to mold, it is strongly recommended that they see their doctor before these symptoms worsen, and that they see an expert on medical effects of mold.
Once the infestation has been cleared out of the workplace, there is a test that must be passed in order for your employees to return. If the test is not passed, you will have to wait longer, but it’s not worth the safety of your employees to go cheap on these necessary precautions. Once the test has finally been passed, you can move your employees back into their respective work areas.
If you have chosen to simply ignore the mold infestation, you are liable for medical bills of your employees, and you could be in danger of losing your business. Of course, this can only happen if it is possible to proven that you knew of the infestation and chose to do nothing about it. However, it is definitely recommended to not ignore the infestation and shell out the cash to have it cleared out as soon as possible.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
water damage restoration contractors and
Mold Remediation companies across the united states.
If a mold inspector is called in and he or she does find mold, it is important that you inform your employees of the mold, and that the problem is indeed being taken care of. It is also important that you inform them of the measures that will be taken during the removal of the unwanted guest. The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) strongly recommends that you do this for the safety of the employees. The important thing to tell the employees is when the remediation will begin and for how long, so that they know if they will have to make arrangements for the current situation. And if any employees begin to exhibit any health complications or symptoms brought on by exposure to mold, it is strongly recommended that they see their doctor before these symptoms worsen, and that they see an expert on medical effects of mold.
Once the infestation has been cleared out of the workplace, there is a test that must be passed in order for your employees to return. If the test is not passed, you will have to wait longer, but it’s not worth the safety of your employees to go cheap on these necessary precautions. Once the test has finally been passed, you can move your employees back into their respective work areas.
If you have chosen to simply ignore the mold infestation, you are liable for medical bills of your employees, and you could be in danger of losing your business. Of course, this can only happen if it is possible to proven that you knew of the infestation and chose to do nothing about it. However, it is definitely recommended to not ignore the infestation and shell out the cash to have it cleared out as soon as possible.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
water damage restoration contractors and
Mold Remediation companies across the united states.
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